Abandoned Girl - Rework

[rrc]

The idea behind the Abandoned Girl is actually very good, but the actual execution of the card is very bad. The idea that it can trigger a harmony proc and then symbiosis actually represents the curse ST as a faction is going through. There are many distinct archetypes which are so far away and distinct and different from each other that most of the cards can only fit in one specific archetype.

A deck built for Harmony can NEVER benefit from Symbiosis and vice versa. Both needs all-in full-deck commitment to try to be strong. So a card which was designed with the idea of procing Harmony and then be used in Symbiosis is inherently bad. I know and understand that AB is just a 4P proactive card and a just a target for removal and if it survives it can become a Symbiosis engine. But it will NEVER be used in a harmony deck (actually benefiting harmony proc).

So, I want to suggest a very simple rework which would support initial idea behind it.

My suggestion is: Abandoned Girl's order should be to transform into a Dryad Fledgling. Let Abandoned Girl fully support the Harmony archetype. Let her proc the Harmony and the become a Harmony engine rather than becoming a Symbiosis engine.

 

[Barracuda88]

The idea behind the Abandoned Girl is actually very good, but the actual execution of the card is very bad. The idea that it can trigger a harmony proc and then symbiosis actually represents the curse ST as a faction is going through. There are many distinct archetypes which are so far away and distinct and different from each other that most of the cards can only fit in one specific archetype.

A deck built for Harmony can NEVER benefit from Symbiosis and vice versa. Both needs all-in full-deck commitment to try to be strong. So a card which was designed with the idea of procing Harmony and then be used in Symbiosis is inherently bad. I know and understand that AB is just a 4P proactive card and a just a target for removal and if it survives it can become a Symbiosis engine. But it will NEVER be used in a harmony deck (actually benefiting harmony proc).

So, I want to suggest a very simple rework which would support initial idea behind it.

My suggestion is: Abandoned Girl's order should be to transform into a Dryad Fledgling. Let Abandoned Girl fully support the Harmony archetype. Let her proc the Harmony and the become a Harmony engine rather than becoming a Symbiosis engine.

While I agree the card is a bit awkward at the moment, I don't think it's completely useless in a Harmony deck, because chances are you're carrying Nature cards in it, anyway. Nor is it useless in a Sym deck, because it's nice and cheap and you can always find a spot for it.

It's definitely never going to be a card you build decks around, but it is a 4p card, after all. You proc, turn, proc again with Pavko or whatever, while adding a point to any nature cards you may play. Or, in a Sym deck, it's a proactive engine that's immune to bleeding and poison for a turn or two.

If you change it to a Fledgling, the question becomes then: why would we have standalone Fledglings at all? They are already never played from hand.

 

[Anciluart]

I think she should gain 1 power per turn if there is a dryad next to her, after a certain power she would transform into a dryad.

But it's called abandoned girl, no wonder it has a poor effect and the devs will also abandon her like her parents did

 

[rrc]

While I agree the card is a bit awkward at the moment, I don't think it's completely useless in a Harmony deck, because chances are you're carrying Nature cards in it, anyway. Nor is it useless in a Sym deck, because it's nice and cheap and you can always find a spot for it.

She is not completely useless. I also didn't say she is completely useless. She is poor mediocre card who will slowly be abandoned and forgotten.

It's definitely never going to be a card you build decks around, but it is a 4p card, after all. You proc, turn, proc again with Pavko or whatever, while adding a point to any nature cards you may play. Or, in a Sym deck, it's a proactive engine that's immune to bleeding and poison for a turn or two.

No faction and no deck will build decks around a 4P card. In her current state she is mediocre and there is no incentive to play her when we have 7 for 4s (even in non-devotion decks). While bleeding/poison resistant for a turn or two is good, practically it is not useful enough to add her in any deck.

If you change it to a Fledgling, the question becomes then: why would we have standalone Fledglings at all? They are already never played from hand.

The answer is, she had been designed to be the first card who can help proc Harmony twice with the same category. It is a unique cool design aspect, but is made useless by mixing two different orthogonal archetypes (one needs more units to be played and the needs more special cards to be played). If she is just a 4P harmony card, yes, no one is going to play her from their hand. But with the ability to proc harmony twice and she herself becoming a Harmony engine, she can get a place in harmony focused decks.

 

[Bellatrix_]

Harmony and symbiosis could work together, problem being ALL symbiosis units are dryads. I like it that way though

 

[Slizzl]

I dunno I like her in this state. It's not like harmony decks don't use nature cards.
I use her in my harmony/symbiosis hybrid deck.
I think ST needs more clever cards like this to tie the faction more together, so not every archetype feels like such a secluded entity.

 

[ShinAkira00]

The idea behind the Abandoned Girl is actually very good, but the actual execution of the card is very bad. The idea that it can trigger a harmony proc and then symbiosis actually represents the curse ST as a faction is going through. There are many distinct archetypes which are so far away and distinct and different from each other that most of the cards can only fit in one specific archetype.

A deck built for Harmony can NEVER benefit from Symbiosis and vice versa. Both needs all-in full-deck commitment to try to be strong. So a card which was designed with the idea of procing Harmony and then be used in Symbiosis is inherently bad. I know and understand that AB is just a 4P proactive card and a just a target for removal and if it survives it can become a Symbiosis engine. But it will NEVER be used in a harmony deck (actually benefiting harmony proc).

So, I want to suggest a very simple rework which would support initial idea behind it.

My suggestion is: Abandoned Girl's order should be to transform into a Dryad Fledgling. Let Abandoned Girl fully support the Harmony archetype. Let her proc the Harmony and the become a Harmony engine rather than becoming a Symbiosis engine.

I get what you're going for but unclear on why you think this is necessary. The harmony nerf was reversed for ST so what curse are you referring to that plagues ST? They are in a very good place at the moment, in fact they're arguably the best counter to NR aside from NG... unless I'm missing something.

I've encountered quite a few symbiosis decks running Abandoned girl, she's not integral to their deck but they mostly run unit less anyway and spam nature cards with Gord as a finisher all the while removing your units. I lose to them more often than not because unlike something like MO organic which aside from spawning a token the organic cards give no added benefit whereas their nature cards have synergy and allows them to boost their hand. ST isn't the strongest but they escaped any major nerf in the last patch so they're pretty strong compared to the other factions.

 

[Sailears]

It's a difficult one because while it isn't the most exciting 4p card, it's still useful and I like having one in my symbiosis deck simply as a proactive play in the event of bad round 1 draws - I see it as a weaker DCGuardian without the damage ability. The order flip is nice sometimes for status clearing - that seems to be the main benefit of the order, the human tag is just incidental and I personally don't think about relating it to Harmony.

I agree that Harmony and Symbiosis don't play well together, because token spawning prevents harmony procs and harmony really needs to be all in with tag variety to get the most out of it, and then there's the problem of which engines do you put on the board first - symbiosis engines need to be on the board early enough to get value from nature cards, but equally harmony engines need to be on the board early enough to get any value at all.

It's weird with both these archetypes now existing and the number of different cards that virtually generate points in similar ways - one offloads points onto a token, the other buffs points onto the same engines. There is some overlap for sure, but the current situation seems to me that Symbiosis is the refined design of what Harmony could be considered a prototype. Problem is both exist together now, and with dedicated leaders so needs to be more of a push to make them distinct and equally viable.

Coming back from that tangent, I don't think AG is out of line with preferred strength of 4p cards - rather believe overperforming 4p cards should be reigned in again. Maybe AG could have some minor additional effect to put it on par with Oak Critters, though not sure it's necessary at the moment.

Would rather see additional Symbiosis options next expansion - and maybe even "Symbiosis 2" on some 7p gold (as we have eg Harmony/Assimilate 2 for double buffs).

 

[rrc]

I agree with everyone that AB is not a junk card. It has its use. It is proactive 4 for 4. The only reason I suggested the change is, the idea behind AB was to proc the harmony multiple times for the same category. That was the point the devs were proud of when they showed the card. It is a novel idea and a cool idea. But harmony and symbiosis are too different. I know that harmony decks are going to have a few Nature card like CoF or Rebuke and she can get a few ticks. All is well and understood.

But it doesn't give enough incentive to play her in Harmony decks. I don't see her get used and I would assume that even if someone runs this card in their symbiosis deck, it is going to be like a just another 4P Young Dryad. So, I was thinking if she transforms into a harmony engine, she will fit more into the original idea she was created for (the same card triggering harmony twice by transforming into a different category).

I get what you're going for but unclear on why you think this is necessary. The harmony nerf was reversed for ST so what curse are you referring to that plagues ST? They are in a very good place at the moment, in fact they're arguably the best counter to NR aside from NG... unless I'm missing something.

What I meant as the plague for ST is, there are no solid bronze cards which can be added in a variety of decks. Every bronze can only work if the entire deck is build around them. Look at the hand buff cards. We have one for Dwarf, one for Elf and one for Dryad. There is no solid engines which can work with variety of cards. Poison cards have lowest point value on deploy since they are harmony engines too which makes them only viable in Harmony focused decks.

Why do you think ST is only doing no/low-unit decks for a few months now? Because they can't build a solid engine or board with their bronzes so it just keeps removing units and trying to play one last big card with Gord. When did we last say an Elf based deck or Dwarfs based decks?

I am not saying ST is in a bad state. Nature's Gift I believe is doing well. Precision Strike is also doing well I think. That is all we can expect from a faction in Gwent. Two playable leader per faction while the rest of the 5 leaders will sleep in their chambers.

 

[Sailears]

The whole thing with so many Dryads now with contrived differences between having either harmony or symbiosis is a getting to be a bit of a mess.

Looking at Harmony, I think one of the issues right now is the bronze harmony cards are not great and don't seem to have any overall plan. The half elf Hunter is expensive for a card that does nothing other than spawn a token more fitting in elf decks, the dryad fledgeling is weak played from hand, and dryad rangers have been powercrept out of the game with the prevalence of status removal and Veil - ST and particularly Harmony doesn't have enough to make up for these poisons being neutralised.
The only solid bronze harmony card is Hawk, because movement is always valuable, and if not it at least has better removal potential.

But on that note regarding poison, Harmony doesn't have much in the way of answering threats with removal, aside from poison or eg handbuffed Sheldon. Symbiosis on the other hand has limited range but more access to good removal while still having the ability to generate points on their side of the board.

So yes Harmony certainly could do with a stronger bronze core, though because Fledgeling exists I'm not sure AG is suitable as it would have too much overlap (though same could be said about bronze 4p assimilate engines, and maybe in a similar way could make a Portal deck with eg 1x Fledging and 2x AG). But I agree if they made AG with Harmony in mind then it should be better supporting of it and perhaps print some different 4p symbiosis cards instead.

Maybe even Harmony could be re-evaluated again. I'm glad they reverted the nerf, but it still is a fairly one dimensional concept that maybe could be a little more interesting and more unique as an archetype.